NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Earth Science with ABS Marine Services

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences has signed an agreement with ABS Marine Services Pvt Ltd, Chennai.

• The main objective of the agreement for running, manning, maintenance (including maintenance and operation of scientific equipment), catering, and housekeeping of all the six research ships.
• The contract includes the maintenance of six research ships.
• Sagar Nidhi, Sagar Manjusha, Sagar Anveshika, and Sagar Tara are managed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.
• Sagar Kanya is managed by National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa and Sagar Sampada managed by the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi.
• The contract was signed for an amount of Rupees 142 crores over a period of 3 years.

Tamil Nadu Signs MOU with IPPB

• Tamil Nadu government signed an MOU with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) for obtaining the life certificate from the pensioners through doorstep services of the postal department.

• According to the MOU, signed in the presence of State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, IPPB will obtain a digital life certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Portal to avoid hardship to the aged pensioners coming in person.

• IPPB has agreed to offer the doorstep services at Rs 70 per digital life certificate.

e-Version on 8 Years of Administrative and Pension Reforms

• Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh released a book and its e-Version on 8 Years of Administrative and Pension reforms -2014-2022.

• They include relaxation in the provision of Family Pension for divorced daughters and Divyangs.
• It also includes the introduction of Face Recognition Technology through mobile app for ease in submitting Life Certificate by elderly pensioners, Electronic Pension Pay Order and assistance from Postal Department to facilitate pension process.
• Mr Singh announced that eight years of administrative and pension reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi are aimed at social transformation.

INTERNATONAL NEWS

Israel Signs Free Trade Deal with UAE

• Israel signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates aimed at boosting trade between the two Middle East nations.

• The pact was signed by Israel's Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbiva and her counterpart, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.
• UAE announced that the deal with Israel is its second bilateral free trade agreement after signing a similar accord with India.
• The agreement would remove tariffs on 96% of goods, including food, agriculture, cosmetics, medical equipment, etc.

BANKING

Booster Systematic Investment Plan

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched a new feature ICICI Prudential Booster Systematic Investment Plan (Booster SIP).

• In this, fixed amount is invested at pre-defined intervals in the source scheme and a variable amount is transferred to the target scheme at pre-defined intervals depending on equity valuation index (EVI).

• Market valuation based on which the installment amount is decided is based on in-house Equity Valuation Index."

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

FIH World Ranking

• The Indian Men’s Hockey team with score 2366.990 has slipped to the fourth spot in FIH World Hockey Rankings 2022.

• The Indian Women’s Hockey Team with 2029.396 points has been placed sixth in the World Hockey Rankings.
• Australia with score 2842.258 and the Netherland with score 3049.495 continued to be the world’s number one ranked teams in the Men’s and Women’s FIH World Ranking.
• In men’s Hockey rankings, the Netherlands has replaced India in the third position.
• In women’s hockey world rankings Australia, England and Germany remain in third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Sitara-e-Pakistan Award

• Former West Indian captain Darren Sammy received the Sitara-e-Pakistan award for his role in the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.

• It is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a Republic.

• The former West Indian captain returned to Pakistan as part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World XI and recognized the country for a three-match T20I series in an attempt to revive international cricket in Pakistan following the ICC’s five-year ban imposed after a tragic attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.
• He was also awarded honorary Pakistani Citizenship by the President of Pakistan Arif Alvi for his part in helping bring International Cricket back to Pakistan.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Director General of NIC

• Senior scientist Rajesh Gera has been appointed as the Director General of National Informatics Centre (NIC).

• At present Gera is Deputy Director General in the NIC.

• The NIC, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), was established in 1976 with the objective to provide technology-driven solutions to central and state governments.

MD & CEO Of NARCL

• National Assets Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) has appointed former State Bank of India executive as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

• NARCL has also appointed former MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank Karnam Sekar as the independent director and non-executive chairman of the board.
• NARCL is a special organization setup as a joint initiative of Public and Private Sector Banks, which is expected to take over bad loans from banks and focus on resolution and recoveries.
• NARCL will try to identify and acquire assets in the ratio of 15:85 for cash and Security Receipts (SRs).

IMPORTANT DAYS

Global Day of Parents

• Global Day of Parents is celebrated every year on 01 June.

• The day is celebrated in honour of the role of parents in a life of a child.

• The theme for this year Global Day of Parents is ‘Appreciate All Parents Throughout the World’.
• On September 17, 2012, UN General Assembly passed the resolution 66/292 to observe June 1 as the Global Parents Day.

World Milk Day

• World Milk Day is celebrated every year on 01 June.

• World Milk Day is an international day established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food since 2001.

• The day will highlight the work done to accelerate climate action and help reduce the dairy sector’s impact on the planet.
• This day is marked to celebrate the dairy industry.